OU Finishes Fourth at NWCA National Duals

By Athletics Communications

University of Oklahoma

FEBRUARY 17, 2014

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The 11th-ranked Oklahoma wrestling team (11-5) finished fourth out of 14 teams at the EAS Sports Nutrition/NWCA Division I National Duals presented by Hibiclens and the United States Marine Corps in honor of Cliff Keen after falling to No. 13 Ohio State, 23-16, Monday afternoon inside St. John Arena.

The Sooners struggled early in the dual, dropping the first three matches and facing a 14-0 deficit before No. 2 Kendric Maple registered a 13-3 major decision of No. 20 Ian Paddock at 149 pounds.

OU, whose lineup was shuffled due to various injuries, only won four of the dual’s 10 matches. Along with Maple’s victory, the Sooners claimed the 165-pound, 184-pound and heavyweight matches.

In the 165-pound bout, redshirt freshman Clark Glass downed Joe Grandominico of Ohio State by decision, 6-1. Moving up from 174 pounds, where he is ranked No. 1, Andrew Howe defeated Josh Fox by a 22-8 major decision in the 184-pound match.

OU’s final win of the dual came at heavyweight as redshirt junior Zach Merrill added a 15-0 technical fall of Kosta Karageorge.

At 157 pounds, Dryden Dennis of the Sooners fell to Randall Languis by a 6-1 decision. OU’s Derek Geiges, who competed at 174 pounds, posted a strong showing against No. 13 Mark Martin, losing by a 3-0 decision.

In a top-10 matchup, No. 8 Nick Heflin held off OU’s fifth-ranked Travis Rutt by a 6-3 decision.

For the two-day event, the Sooners posted a 2-2 record.

OU will return to the mat on Saturday, March 8, as it hosts the Big 12 Championship inside McCasland Field House. Limited tickets are still available online or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (405) 325-2424 or toll-free at (800) 456-GoOU.

SOONER SPORTS PROPERTIES

Sooner Sports Properties, LLC, is the multimedia rights holder for athletics at the University of Oklahoma.
Sooner Sports Properties is a joint venture of Learfield Communications and Tyler Media, LLC.

PREMIER PARTNERS

POWERED BY FOX SPORTS

Sooner Sports Powered by FOX Sports is a multi-platform network that provides distribution of 1,000+ hours of Sooner sports programming annually on a variety of FOX Sports outlets, including FOX Sports Oklahoma, FOX Sports Southwest, and FOX College Sports.

OU inspires champions today and prepares leaders for tomorrow by enabling its student-athletes to achieve their highest academic, athletic and personal aspirations. The OU Athletics Department sponsors 21 varsity sports with more than 600 student-athletes and is completely self-supporting.